In the year and a half that Donald Trump and fellow Republicans have dominated federal government, Southern California’s many Democratic members of Congress have felt like a gang that brought sticks to a knife fight.

That feeling soon could change. If Democrats win a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the upcoming mid-terms, dozens will replace those imaginary sticks with very real gavels. Partisan politics in Washington, D.C., still might not be an even fight if Republicans continue to hold the Senate and White House, but taking charge of House committees would give Democrats a weapon.

The stakes for greater Los Angeles are dramatic: At least 10 of the 19 Democrats representing parts of L.A., Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties are in line for committee and subcommittee chairmanships if their party gains a majority. Four of the eight Republicans from these counties would lose committee or subcommittee chairmanships, not including two current panel chairmen who are retiring.

Combined with Linda Sanchez’s announced bid to lead the House Democratic Caucus — Adam Schiff also hasn’t ruled out running for a party leadership position — the committee chairmanships would enhance Southern California’s power on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank. (File photo)

“There will be plenty of time to talk about the leadership elections,” said Schiff, D-Burbank, speaking hypothetically about the aftermath of Democrats winning a House majority in the Nov. 6 elections.

“But much more important is taking the committee gavels that will allow us to put forward a positive agenda … and to do true oversight of this out-of-control administration.”

Knowing House members’ committee-chair aspirations can help voters to understand specifically what Democrats hope to achieve if they pick up the 23 seats they need to gain a majority of the chamber’s 435 seats for the first time since 2010.

Seats of power

Schiff would take over as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, putting him in a position to revive the lower chamber’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, an outspoken critic of the Trump administration, would lead Financial Services, the committee that oversees, among others, the securities and banking industries. As such, a Waters’ led Financial Services committee could investigate the financial connections between administration officials and the industries they oversee, as well as the president’s financial connections. In addition, she would urge the committee to look into the affordable housing crisis and its link to homelessness, two issues that plague Southern California.

For Waters, who turns 80 on Aug. 15 and is running for her 15th term, the promise of becoming chairwoman of a major House committee is powerful inducement to put off thoughts of retirement.

“Can you imagine what it takes to get to the point to be able to chair this committee, for a woman and an African American?” Waters said.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside. (File photo)

A third Southern California Democrat could become chairman of a full committee. Though Mark Takano, D-Riverside, currently is the No. 2 Democrat on Veterans’ Affairs, the ranking Democrat, Tim Walz, is running for governor in Minnesota. That means a Dem-controlled House would make Takano chair of a committee that could help improve veterans’ access to their GI benefits and investigate how some for-profit colleges bilk veterans.

In all, seven Southern Californians are ranking Democrats on subcommittees and would almost certainly step into chairmanships if the party wins control of the House, a prospect given a better than 60 percent chance by political bettors on PredictIt.org. (Bettors give Republicans a more than 70 percent chance of keeping control of the Senate.)

‘Demand answers’ on border policy

Two would be in line to head Foreign Affairs subcommittees: Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, on Asia and the Pacific, (of particular importance amid controversy over China, North Korea and trade policy); and Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights.

Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte, would chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, where she would be expected to hold hearings on Trump administration efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act.

Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, would step into the top spot on the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. Lowenthal said he would “continue our work to push back against President Trump’s agenda to prioritize industry profits over the protection of public lands.”

Lou Correa, D-Anaheim, could step into the chairmanship of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency. A spokesman said Correa would “demand answers” on Trump’s so-called zero-tolerance border policies.

Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Downey, would become an Appropriations Committee “cardinal,” Capitol Hill vernacular for Appropriations subcommittee chairs. Roybal-Allard would be chair of the subcommittee that deals with the budget of the Department of Homeland Security.

Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village, is in line for the gavel of the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health. “As a leader on veterans issues, I will continue to focus on ensuring our nation’s heroes receive the benefits they have earned and deserve — especially women veterans, the fastest-growing population at the VA,” said Brownley, whose district straddles Ventura County and L.A. County.

Even Democrats who aren’t in line for chairmanships of any of the House’s dozens of committees and subcommittees could gain if their party controls the chamber, gaining more seats on committees and a better shot at seeing their bills come up for floor votes.

Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan at a House Committee on Homeland Security field hearing at the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Administraion offices in San Pedro on Oct. 30, 2017. (Photo By Robert Casillas/SCNG)

Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, could gain influence on the Judiciary Committee. Likewise, Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, would have a chance to move up in Ways and Means, the gateway for bills with an impact on federal revenue.

And other, less-senior House Democrats, like Diaz Barragán, D-San Pedro; Gimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles; Norma Torres, D-Pomona; Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, and Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, would hope to get on major committees that touch a variety of policy areas.

Whether or not Democrats gain control of the House, Linda Sanchez, D-Lakewood, is looking to gain influence by running for the soon-to-be-vacant House Democratic Caucus chairmanship, a position that’s fourth in the party power structure below minority leader (Nancy Pelosi), Democratic whip (Steny Hoyer), and assistant Democratic leader (James Clyburn).

GOP trouble

Democrats’ gain would be Republicans’ loss.

Southern California Republicans who would have to hand over subcommittee chairmen’s gavels if Democrats win in November are Ken Calvert, R-Corona (Interior, Environment and Related Agencies), Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine (Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation), Steve Knight, R-Santa Clarita (Small Business Contracting and Workforce), and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach (Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigations). Knight and Rohrabacher are in tough re-election fights, among a handful of races in the region that could determine if Republicans hold onto the House.

In addition, Republicans Ed Royce of Brea, who chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Darrell Issa of Vista, who chaired the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, are retiring.

California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte downplayed House members’ committee roles as a factor in voters’ election decisions, calling the discussion “one of those insider things.”

But Brulte also said committee roles could could be important to campaign donors who seek to gain favor with influential office-holders.

Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State Los Angeles, said the wholesale switch of chairmanships is meaningful because Democrats could be a “huge thorn in Trump’s side” by putting up obstacles to the president’s agenda — even if Democrats would have a hard time getting their own legislation past a Republican-controlled Senate and president.

“That means trouble for Trump in getting his policies passed,” Regalado said. “He’d better do it before January, because the smart money is on Democrats [in the elections].”

In particular, Regalado said, Waters would be a “bulldog” as Financial Services chairwoman.

“She’d be a Democratic Darrell Issa,” Regalado said, referring to Issa’s 2010-15 tenure as chair of the Oversight and Government Reform committee. “She would not be afraid to go after Trump.”

Having their hands on committee gavels would be Democrats’ biggest reward for a November victory, but it would also ramp up the pressure. Their party would be at least party responsible for what does — and doesn’t — come out of Washington.

“It will be very meaningful for Democrats to win it back,” Regalado said of control of the House. “But then it would be show and tell for them, too.”

Kevin Modesti is a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News and the Southern California News Group, covering the political scene in Los Angeles County. An L.A. native, he was a sports writer, columnist and editor for most of his career, and later an editorial board member, writer and editor in the Opinion section. He lives in the San Fernando Valley and is based in the Woodland Hills office.